Creamy Mushroom Soup without the Cream

This easy, creamy mushroom soup is made completely without cream! And it’s ready in just 20 minutes! You’ll never open a can again.

Mushroom soup is one of my favourite soups. Not only do I love the flavour, I love how quick and easy it is to make at home any time. And with the weather here returning to cooler Spring temperatures after our mini late May heat wave, a little warm soup has returned to the menu.

This Creamy Mushroom Soup without the Cream is for when you are looking for the thick and creamy version of mushroom soup, reminiscent of the red and white canned version. Only so much better!

This mushroom soup starts with one tray of mushrooms and uses only milk and chicken broth. No cream here. And this delicious soup is ready to eat in just about 20 minutes! You’ll never open a red and white can again :)

Cook’s Notes for Creamy Mushroom Soup without the Cream

No chicken broth? Truth is, you can make this soup using all milk. Simply replace the broth with more milk. That said, the role of the broth is to add some depth of flavour to the soup, so if you have to go the all milk route, look for other ways to add depth. Season well with salt and pepper. More thyme. Maybe add a little diced onion when you saute the mushrooms.

Likewise, you can adjust the ratio of milk to broth in this soup. I typically go with 2 parts milk to 1 part broth, but you could also do 1/2 and 1/2. Experiment to find your favourite.

As for the milk itself, I recommend at least 2% and preferably whole (3%) milk. Less than that and you will be sacrificing the “thick and creamy” part of this soup.

I like to start with whole mushrooms and slice them myself. I like the extra chunkiness. Just be sure to give them a wipe with paper towel before slicing, to remove any bits of dirt.

This recipe makes a fairly small batch, so you probably won’t have left-overs, but if you do, you will find the soup thickens even more in the fridge. Thin with a little more chicken broth for re-heating and it will be as good as new!

As this soup has a lot of milk and milk has no seasoning whatsoever, be sure you generously season your salt with salt and pepper, to really bring out the flavours.

Ingredients

8oztray whole white mushroomswiped clean and sliced (or start with a similar sized tray of pre-sliced)

1/4cupflour

2cupsmilkat least 2%, whole preferred

1cupchicken broth

1/4tspfresh thyme leavesor 1/8 tsp dried

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions

In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring, until they are cooked and lightly coloured. Add flour and cook, stirring, for about 45 seconds (it will be dry in the pan, but just keep them moving so they don't scorch). Add the milk and stir to combine. Add the chicken broth, thyme leaves and some salt and pepper.

Cook, stirring regularly, until soup thickens. This will take 8-10 minutes and will be about coincide with when the soup starts to lightly boil. Reduce heat to medium low. Using an immersion blender, blend the soup very lightly, leaving some larger pieces of mushroom (alternately, remove a cup of the soup with mushrooms and break up in a blender, then return to the pot).

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Hi Hayley, I have no experience in cooking with almond milk so I don’t know if it will thicken the same way as milk when combined with butter and flour. If so, it should be fine. Also, could you use lactose-free regular milk?